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Cast
(voices only):
Yasuo Yamada
Eiko Masuyama
Kiyoshi Kobayashi
Makio Inoue
Goro Naya
Sumi Shimamoto
Taro Ishida
Writer:
Hayao
Miyazaki
Tadashi Yamazaki
Maurice Leblanc
Monkey
Punch
Producer:
Tetsuo Katayama
Yutaka Fujioka
Director:
Hayao
Miyazaki
Score:
 
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THE
CASTLE OF CAGLIOSTRO
AKA:
Lupin III: Castle of Cagliostro ||
Lupin the Third: The Castle of Cagliostro
Year:
1979 Reviewer: Phil
Mills
After
pulling off an extremely successful heist in Monte Carlo,
super-thief Lupin is furious to discover that his stolen booty
is in fact counterfeit. In a bid to retain an ounce of
his pride (and perhaps gain a little retribution), he decides
to track down the source of the fake bills and his search soon
leads him to an evil Count who lives in the country of
Cagliostro. Enlisting the help of his partners (a
retired gangster, a modern-day samurai and a female thief),
Lupin travels to Cagliostro where he uncovers an even
greater treasure in the form of a beautiful princess who is in
desperate need of rescuing. Now it's up to Lupin to
muster together all of his cunning to siege the castle of
Cagliostro and take care of the dastardly Count once and for
all.
Seeing
Hayao Miyazaki's name plastered all over the credits of 'The
Castle Of Cagliostro' is probably very misleading for the
majority of fans who know him best for the likes of 'Spirited
Away' or 'My Neighbour Totoro'. Unlike those films,
you won't find any bizarre fluffy creatures bouncing around
fantasy worlds here but don't let this put you as Miyazaki is a true master of his art and always
seems to be capable of crafting out an enjoyable film,
no matter what the subject. Thankfully
that rings true for 'The
Castle Of Cagliostro', which was actually Miyazaki's
directorial feature-film debut and was most likely a result of his
successful handling of a couple of episodes of
the 'Lupin III' anime series. Basically, what it breaks down
as is one heck of an entertaining adventure film that has an
affinity to the Hollywood crime capers of the 1970s (the 'Pink
Panther' springs instantly to mind) and manages to blend action,
humour and a sweet storyline with ease. It's also pleasing to see
that Miyazaki squeezes in a couple of the outskirt characters
from the series that are all exceptionally well represented and had me
itching to get my hands on more of the 'Lupin III' movies and
episodes.
For
the animation used within 'The
Castle Of Cagliostro', it is mostly in keeping with the
original series
and has a somewhat old-school look, very much along the lines of the
likes of 'Doraemon' which isn't surprising considering they
were both made around the same era. Don't get me
wrong though, this is by no means a bad thing as the 'Doraemon'
artwork still remains a personal favourite of mine and one has to say that these early hand drawn animated
efforts are often more pleasing on the eye than the recent
spate of computer
animated movies.
There's something about the roughly drawn edges and over the
top facial expressions that brings out an element of nostalgia
in me and makes this far easier to warm to
than the likes of 'Shrek' or 'Shark's Tale'.
Although
it can often be overlooked by Ghibli enthusiasts simply because of
the 'Lupin' label, 'The
Castle Of Cagliostro' is a film that should really be seen by
all Miyazaki fans or anime fans in general. It's just such a wildly entertaining ride that
contains all of the right elements that go into making a solid
adventure film, so much so that you can't fail to lap it up and be left
begging for more. Miyazaki really knows what the
audience wants to see and I am once again left applauding a
filmmaker who continues to come up trumps with whatever
project he works on.
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